Oh my!!! I wish I had been there to watch the fun! Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos.

I like the black and white one too. Very good work.

Absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing these!!

Oh, and I plan to have it printed on a 12x14 gallery wrap canvas.

I can't thank everyone enough for all the wonderful and kind feedback!
I use Paint Shop Pro for all my image editing. I started about 15 years ago and am still learning! I tried Photo Shop but it was too complicated for me to master. PSP seems much simpler, probably because I've grown right along with the program!! The first thing I did, since this is a digital image, was to sharpen it and increase the contrast. Then I enhanced all edges, I duplicated the layer and applied a colored chalk filter and reduced the opacity quite a bit. Yeah I know, but overlay didn't give quite the right look! I merged the two layers. Then I placed a texture layer on top and reduced the opacity on it. And this was the outcome. And yep, I'm an OOOOLD master! I turned seventy this year. LOL Grandma Moses is my inspiration!

Wow!!! All these compliments have my old grey head swelling a bit!! LOL Seriously, thank you everyone for the kind words. Yes, she is quite pretty and a bit spoiled too.

Thanks everyone! I wasn't sure if it was any good or if I was just kind of biased, considering my relationship to the subject!

This is my granddaughter, Kalyssa. Her expression and the way the wind was blowing her hair somehow reminded me of a painting by some old master. So I tried to make the photo resemble a painting. I really like the effect.

Kalyssa Pensive

Good job!! I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Beautiful!!! Thank you for sharing these photo's.

I live in the country and feed the birds and animals. I've had 'possums come to the feeding stations in the daytime quite consistently, especially the young ones. They can get quite tame. It always pays to be cautious, learn the symptoms of rabies. I've had the series of shots and they are very painful. But I won't allow that to stop me from enjoying and photographing the wildlife in our area, I just use a telephoto lens whenever possible!

I have met "professional" photographers who use their "professionalism" to ridicule, demean, and otherwise treat the "non-professional" like dog c**p! That is what really lights my fire!!!!

Oh wow! That is awesome!

I love it and wish I could have it for a desktop background!! Thank you for sharing this wonderful photo!

I know what you are saying about the background! I wish we lived close enough to visit, I would love to help you get started on changing backgrounds. I've been teaching myself image editing, with the help of online tutorials and tips, for about 15 years. I'm not a formally educated expert, but it's something I love to do. It's not as difficult as it seems. More time consuming and tedious. Great photo of the kids!!